Ashley Zukerman

Ashley Zukerman (born 30 December 1983)^[1] is an Australian-American actor known for playing Dr. Charlie Isaacs on WGN America's Manhattan, Senior Constable Michael Sandrelli in Australian drama series Rush, and Jesse Banks in the Australian political thriller The Code, for which he received an AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama in 2014. He also played a recurring role in Succession. In 2021, he portrayed Robert Langdon in the TV series adaptation of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol.

Ashley Zukerman
Zukerman interviewed about Blame in 2011
Born	(1983-12-30) 30 December 1983 (age 39) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Nationality	Australian American
Alma mater	Victorian College of the Arts
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2006–present
Known for	Michael Sandrelli of Rush Jesse Banks of The Code Dr. Charlie Isaacs of Manhattan Peter MacLeish of Designated Survivor Nate Sofrelli of Succession Sheriff Nick Goode of The Fear Street Trilogy
Relatives	Wendy Zukerman (sister)

Early life

Zukerman was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Ingrid and Moshe Zukerman, and moved to Melbourne with his family when he was two years old.^[2] His family is Jewish;^[3] his father is from Israel and his mother is from Peru. His parents spoke Hebrew during his childhood.^[4] He is the older brother of Science Vs. podcaster Wendy Zukerman. Zukerman attended Wesley College at the Glen Waverley campus and began a degree in Science and Engineering at Monash University before being accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts.

Career

Graduating from the VCA in 2006, he began his professional career in the theatre. He had a critically acclaimed role in The History Boys,^[5] directed by Peter Evans for the Melbourne Theatre Company. He then appeared in HBO's war miniseries The Pacific, which premiered 14 March 2010 and also in Lowdown created by Adam Zwar and Amanda Brotchie. His Australian break came when he played Constable Michael Sandrelli on the series Rush for which he was nominated for a Logie award in the Most Outstanding New Talent category. In 2011, after his time on Rush, Zukerman joined the cast of the short-lived Steven Spielberg–produced sci-fi television series Terra Nova.

Zukerman then returned to the theatre working with director Eamon Flack at the Belvoir Theatre Company in As You Like It playing Orlando, and then two years later in Angels in America playing Joe Pitt. Angels in America won Best Play at the 2014 Helpmann Awards.^[6]

He played socially dysfunctional genius hacker Jesse Banks opposite Dan Spielman in the Australian political thriller The Code created by Shelley Birse. The show received huge national and international acclaim and 10 AACTA Award nominations, out of which it won six including Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama for Zukerman.^[7]

Early in 2014, Zukerman won the role of ambitious wunderkind Dr. Charlie Isaacs in the WGN America original drama Manhattan created by filmmaker Sam Shaw and directed by Thomas Schlamme. In 2016, Zukerman was cast in the recurring role of Peter MacLeish on the ABC political drama series Designated Survivor, which premiered in the autumn of the same year.^[8]

In 2018, Zukerman had a recurring role on the HBO series Succession, and in 2020, appeared as the title character's husband on the Hulu miniseries A Teacher.^[9] In 2021, he stars in the Fear Street horror trilogy that streams on Netflix, beginning with Fear Street Part One: 1994.^[10][11] It was announced in March 2020 that Zukerman has also been cast to portray Robert Langdon in the NBC drama pilot Langdon, which is based on Dan Brown's 2009 thriller novel The Lost Symbol.^[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Tom White	Thug #2
2010	Blame	Anthony
2011	The Crimson Room	John	Short
2013	The Humble Beginnings of the Balloon	Todd Digby	Short
2013	Miasmata	Max	Short
2018	The Wind	Isaac
2021	Fear Street Part One: 1994	Sheriff Nick Goode
2021	Fear Street Part Two: 1978
2021	Fear Street Part Three: 1666	Sheriff Nick Goode/Solomon Goode

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008–11	Rush	Michael Sandrelli	Main role
2010	The Pacific	2nd Lt Robert "Mac" MacKenzie	TV miniseries
2010	Lowdown	Dylan Hunt	Recurring role
2011	The Slap	Dylan^[13]	"Anouk"
2011	Terra Nova	Lucas Taylor	Recurring role
2012	Death Star PR	Bilson	"Nemesis"
2013	Mr & Mrs Murder	Alex Moran	"En Vogue"
2013	Underbelly: Squizzy	Det. James Bruce	Main role
2014–15	Manhattan	Charlie Isaacs^[14]	Main role
2014–16	The Code	Jesse Banks	Main role
2015	Childhood's End	Jake Greggson^[15]	TV miniseries
2016	Four Stars	Danny	TV film
2016	Fear the Walking Dead	Will	"Pillar of Salt"
2016	Masters of Sex	Gary Bucksey	"The Pleasure Protocol", "Coats or Keys"
2016–17	Designated Survivor	Peter MacLeish	Recurring role (season 1)
2017	Friday on My Mind	Ted Albert	TV miniseries
2018	Reverie	Nate Hallo	"No More Mr. Nice Guy"
2018–present	Succession	Nate Sofrelli	Recurring role
2020	A Teacher	Matt Mitchell	Main role
2021	Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol	Robert Langdon	Main role

Theatre

• As You Like It (2011) – Orlando^[16]
• This Is Our Youth (2009) – Warren^[17]
• B.C. (2009) – Joseph^[18]
• The Hypocrite (2008) – Valére^[19]
• The History Boys (2007) – Timms^[20]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Subject	Result
2009	Logie Awards	Best New Talent	Rush	Nominated
2014	AACTA Awards	Best Actor in a Television Drama	The Code	Nominated
2015				Won
	Silver Logie Award	Most Outstanding Actor		Nominated
2016	AACTA Awards	Best Actor in a Television Drama		Nominated

References

1. "Ashley Zukerman". The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
2. "Ashley Zukerman (Jake Greggson)". Childhood's End. SyFy. 21 November 2014. from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
3. Miller, Gerri (23 July 2014). . InterfaithFamily. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018.
4. "Ashley Zukerman: 'The Lost Symbol' reinvents Dan Brown hero".
5. The History Boys – Arts Review – theage.com.au
6. Meares, Joel (18 August 2014). "Helpmann Awards winners dominated by Sydney theatre talent Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
7. (PDF), www.aaca.org, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2015, retrieved 22 January 2016
8. Petski, Denise (5 August 2016). "'Designated Survivor' Casts Ashley Zukerman; Amanda Brooks Joins 'Outsiders'".
9. Petski, Denise (24 January 2018). "'Succession': Ashley Zukerman Set To Recur On Adam McKay's HBO Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
10. Vlessing, Etan (27 March 2019). "Ashley Zukerman, Fred Hechinger, Julia Rehwald, Jeremy Ford Join Fox's 'Fear Street' Trilogy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
11. Petski, Denise (6 September 2019). "'A Teacher': FX Limited Series Based On Hannah Fidell's Film Adds Eight To Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
12. Andreeva, Nellie (2 March 2020). "'Langdon': Ashley Zukerman To Play Famed Symbologist In NBC Pilot Based On Dan Brown's 'Lost Symbol'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
13. "Credit – The Slap – ABC TV". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
14. Owen, Rob (27 June 2014). "TV Q&A: 'The Talk,' TV ratings and paranormal TV shows". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
15. "Zukerman to star in US sci-fi drama". IF Magazine. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
16. "As You Like It | Belvoir". Australianstage.com.au. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
17. Dimasi, Rita (21 January 2009). "THEATRE REVIEW: This Is Our Youth". ArtsHub. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
18. The Hayloft Project. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
19. "The Hypocrite | Melbourne Theatre Company". Australianstage.com.au. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
20. "The History Boys – Arts Reviews – Arts – Entertainment". theage.com.au. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

External links

• Ashley Zukerman at IMDb